Continued...
Maybe it was the sincerity in his voice, maybe it was the weight of years pressing down on me, but my shoulders finally gave in under his touch.
I exhaled, tension bleeding from my muscles.
Neither of us said anything, but the shift in the air between us spoke louder than words ever could.
Some grudges never truly die. But maybe, just maybe, they could fade.
In some cases, you stop caring enough to hold any grudges anymore. Becomes redundant.
The air that had been brimming with tension only a moment ago now relaxed alongside us. That was, until he had to open his damn mouth.
"So... does that mean you're letting me come to the party you're going to?" Ashton asked, grinning like a kid asking for an extra scoop of ice cream.
The hell did he just say?
I turned to face him fully, my eyes narrowing. "What makes you think I'm going to a party?" My tone was low, edged with suspicion. I wasn't even dressed special for it—nothing about me screamed I have plans.
And yet, he knew.
Ashton had the audacity to rub the back of his neck and give me a half-assed shrug like that would somehow make this conversation go away.
I scoffed, the realization hitting like a bullet to the skull.
"He told you, didn't he?" My jaw clenched, my pulse hammering in my ears. "God-fucking-damn it! Who the hell does he think he is?! First, he shoves his way into every part of my goddamn life, and now he thinks he gets to assign me a fucking bodyguard?!"
My voice echoed off the walls, the storm inside me crashing against whatever semblance of control I had left.
Ashton had the nerve to wince, but still, his lips twitched slightly. "I believe the term he used was babysitter."
Babysitter?
I was already seeing red, but now I was about to fucking combust.
"Dude, he's just trying to look out for you. We all are. You know we're worried." His voice was careful, cautious. "It's different. We can feel it. And none of us wants to make a mistake."
There it was. The reminder of what happened- As if I fucking needed it.
I let out a humorless chuckle, shaking my head. "So that's it? He thinks I'm gonna be the one to screw up? That I'm the ticking time bomb?"
My voice dropped into something dark, something dangerous. "You all think I'm gonna lose my goddamn mind, don't you? Like I'm some fucking lunatic just waiting to snap?"
Ashton exhaled heavily. "We don't know for sure—"
"Oh, he doesn't know anything for sure. " I cut him off, voice dripping with venom.
"He's just going out on a limb. Playing his usual role of the hopeful, naive optimist. Acting like he's got all the answers when he doesn't know a goddamn thing."
I was pacing now, hands clenched into fists, rage curling through my bones. I wasn't even sure who I was more furious with—him, the rest of them, her… or myself.
"Man, we just want to make sure—"
"None of you have to make sure about anything!" I snarled, spinning on my heel to glare at him.
The words burned in my throat, but I let them out anyway. "You know why?"
I took a step closer, voice steady despite the fire raging inside me. "Because I'm done. I don't give a shit. It's nothing to me. I am done falling for the cruelty of fate over and over again."
I turned away from him, stalking toward the door, each step slow, deliberate. The weight of every past mistake, every shattered promise, pressed against my chest—but I welcomed it.
Because the weight was mine. Only mine.
I stopped in front of the door, gripping the handle but not turning it yet. Instead, I let out a breath, cold and quiet. "I'm done giving my sadistic angels the pleasure of my suffering."
The room was silent, but I knew Ashton was watching me. His gaze was always too heavy, always laced with something I didn't want to see—concern, regret, guilt.
Fuck that.
My grip on the doorknob tightened. "Now I take charge. If fate wants to play its games, fine. But I will be the one dealing the cards. I will rip apart anything it throws at me, tear it down until all that's left is the wreckage I created with my own goddamn hands.
"If I'm meant to burn—" I turned my head just enough to meet his gaze, my lips curling into something humorless, something cruel. "—then I'll make sure I'm the one holding the match."
The sky outside was bleeding its final hues of orange and violet, the last sliver of sunlight disappearing below the horizon. The world looked peaceful, untouched. The air held no scent strong enough to shatter my fragile self-control.
For now.
I stepped forward, inhaling deeply as if the night air could cleanse me. It wouldn't. Nothing ever did.
"She means nothing to me," I murmured, letting the words settle, not just in the space between us, but in my own soul.
A cold smile slashed across my face as I turned back to Ashton, who still watched me with that same goddamn pity I loathed. He should know better.
Pity is for the weak. Pity is for those who suffer
I stopped suffering a long time ago.
"And I will make sure she knows it," I said, voice smooth, controlled, lethal. "I'll make sure it's ingrained into her very soul, like a fucking brand—one that hurts just as much."
I walked out, letting the door slam shut behind me. The night stretched out before me, open, endless.
I would break through this curse. I would get away. Even if I have to break her alongside.
Nothing—not fate, not them, and sure as hell not her—was going to stop me.
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Sorry only two chaps todays because i was working on a new prologue. It's up, so those of you who is already up to speed, go check out the new prologue. It's a small sneak peek to what's to come ;) oh and thanx for reading
xxoo